Things you may or may not know about me...

I guess I got bored and decided to do an "About Me" post...This list was inspired by my cousin, Ryan’s list of things about her, which I found intriguing. We share some strange similarities (i.e., a cotton ball aversion). This is long, so only start reading if you have a few minutes!

My feet went from an 8 to a 9 in my first pregnancy and never went back.

My hair grew a different color in my first pregnancy.

I didn’t know it until a few months later when I saw a ring around my head because it started growing my normal color after delivery. Yes, that is a fact.

I can NOT stand the feel of cotton balls. If a medicine bottle comes with them in it, someone else has to remove it and throw it away.

I can’t even watch someone touch cotton balls. It makes shivers go up my spine.

I love, love, love spicy food. The hotter the better.

I would not eat, and did not like, fish until I was in my late 20’s…now I love it.

Same with beans of almost every kind.

Patrick Swayze has a ranch just a few miles from where I grew up.

I have a sister 4 years older than me and a brother 4 years younger.

I have 5 nieces. The oldest is 16 and the youngest is 2.

I watched the oldest be born. It was the most awesome thing I'd ever seen. I cried the whole time. (Kate, 'member da bear? GRRRR!!!)

The youngest (Trinity) shares the same birthday as my daughter.

My husband has 1 nephew who is 1 year younger than my brother.

His sister, who is 10 years older than him, is 1 year younger than my mother.

My mother-in-law is one of the best friends I’ve ever had in my life. She’s nearly 70 years old.

I didn't enjoy shopping until I stopped working to be a stay-at-home-mom and didn't have a lot of extra money. Isn't that ironic?

I played the flute in Junior High and my Freshman year in High School.

My dad wanted me to play it.

My Dad died when I was 14 and had just started 9th grade. He was 38.

The song "The Dance” by Garth Brooks always makes me think of my Dad. Look up the lyrics and you’ll know why.

The movie “Ghost” also makes me think of him…and my Mom at that time in our lives…it came out right after he died and Patrick Swayze’s name in the movie was Sam like my Dad.

That was the worst, most shocking and heart-breaking experience I’ve ever had. It was totally unexpected.

I was waiting for him to pick me up from marching band practice when he died.

I was the last one to finally be picked up…by our neighbors.

I dropped out of band after 9th grade.

I worked 3 jobs through high school so I could earn enough money to help support our family and buy my first car.

I had to work 3 jobs so I could get more hours than was allowed by law at one job because of my age.

My first car was a 1982 Chevy Citation.

The A/C didn’t work, nor did the radio.

The passenger door window wouldn’t roll up and down properly, so I had to pull it up and push it down with my hands.

Rain water would collect in the door and slosh back and forth when I’d stop and go.

I took a big, yellow, battery-operated jam box in that car so I could listen to the radio.

That car never broke down on me.

I fell asleep driving my boyfriend’s car around midnight about 2 weeks after I turned 16 and got my driver’s license.

The car was totaled.

I crossed 3 lanes of traffic, hit a sign, a utility box, jumped a ditch and landed in a marsh.

No one was around, so I had to get out in the muddy water, in the dark, and go to the nearest house to get help.

God was watching me…I wasn’t hurt…not even a scratch.

I was in a head-on collision when I was 7. We were in a tiny 2-Door, Hatchback Honda Civic…

We were hit by a 70’s model Chevy Impala. We were also hit in the rear by a Mustang.

My dad was driving, my mom was a passenger, and my brother and I were in the back seat asleep.

We were hit by a drunk driver.

We were not wearing seat belts.

My mother’s head went through the windshield…she was dead-on-arrival at the hospital and was resuscitated.

My father pushed the entire steering column into the engine area…with his chest.

He had 27 broken bones in his upper body.

I woke up on the side of the road with strangers all around and blood everywhere.

I had glass buried all in my arms, especially my right arm…which also had a complete fracture just below my shoulder.

I asked where my brother was….they didn’t even know he was in the car.

They found him wedged under the front seat. He was 2 ½.

My mother and brother both suffered severe brain injuries. They were both expected to be vegetables for the remainder of their lives.

They aren’t…but have suffered, and continue to suffer, many, many problems since.

My mother, brother, and father were all in a coma for at least 2 weeks each.

The first time I saw my mom in the hospital, her head was shaved with a big bandage around her head from where they had to drill a hole in her skull to release pressure on her brain. Her front tooth was chipped off and she had a broken wrist. It was terrifying.

The first time I saw my dad in the hospital, he was in a coma and hooked up to countless machines.

I flew in a helicopter with my dad….unfortunately, it was because we had to be flown on Life Flight from one hospital to another. He was moaning in pain the entire time.

I was in the hospital for 2 weeks.

My dad was in the hospital the longest. Nearly 2 months.

I had to live with our neighbors while the rest of the family recovered in the hospital.

I wonder all the time how life would’ve been if that accident never happened…especially for my mom, dad, and brother.

My hair was down to my bottom, or past my bottom, until I was a Sophomore in High School.

I was not allowed to get it cut…not even bangs.

The first thing I had done to my hair was a spiral perm in the 9th grade…I couldn’t even hold my head up because there were so many perm rods!

Everyone said I looked like Daryl Hannah in the movie “Splash” with my long, permed hair... so it was shoulder length by my Sophomore year.

I was not allowed to get my ears pierced until I was 11…I got earrings for Christmas.

My dad pierced them at our house….just popped the earrings right in.

I wasn’t scared…I was so happy!

I enjoy cooking and trying new foods.

I enjoy gardening and doing yard work.

I enjoy sewing and have made many, many baby blankets, curtains, and decorative pillows.

I have tried my hand at sewing clothes, but that’s not my thing! Way too frustrating.

Of all household chores, I despise washing dishes and cleaning bathrooms the most.

My mother used to drive me to first grade on the back of my dad's motorcycle.

I have a strange obsession with bath products. I have several half-used bottles of body wash and shampoos and conditioners under my bathroom sink. I don't know why.

I saved my brother from drowning in our neighbors pool when we were kids…he will not go swimming to this day.

I can type over 100 words per minute.

I love computers.

I hate exercising…obviously.

I like to read, but usually only cooking magazines, gardening books, educational, spiritual, or self-help type books…rarely a novel.

I generally don’t watch sitcoms/"regular" television shows.

I enjoy movies and television shows based on real life (not reality tv shows)…such as forensic science shows, and most shows on A & E, Discovery Channel, The History Channel, The Learning Channel, etc.

I enjoy volunteering and helping people.

If I were rich, I’d be a philanthropist.

We went to Ocho Rios, Jamaica for our honeymoon.

I hate boats and boating. I always get hurt somehow.

But, I love jet-skis.

I also like to go fishing and camping.

I love being a mother.

As a kid, I preferred playing in the dirt and blowing up plastic soldiers with firecrackers with the boys more than playing Barbies and "house" or "school" with the girls.

I had a go-cart as a kid.

My dad took the governor off so I could go really fast.

Me and my friend flipped it…she broke her finger and I got all the skin tore off my heal.

My mom made us get rid of it…I cried!

As a kid, I enjoyed exploring the woods, playing in creeks, and taking trails to friends’ houses.

My brother shot me in the butt with his BB gun when we were kids.

Now that I’m an adult, I can’t believe that most adults are actually just big kids….just like me!

I always thought adults were ancient and so uncool when I was a kid.

I have great reverence for all mothers (the good ones, anyway) now that I’m a mother and have delivered 2 kids.

I think that pregnancy and babies are life’s greatest gifts and miracles.

I thank God all the time for my 2 miracles.

Two family friends where hit and killed by a train while riding their dirt bike when I was 10 years old, right down the street from our house.

I went to more funerals when I was in high school than any other time in my life…around 15-20…too many to remember.

Most of them were for people I went to high school with….senseless accidents, suicides, car wrecks, etc., but some were for family members.

I love my cat, but I’m allergic to him…he’s a 13 year old Siamese mix I've had since he was 8 weeks old.

My dog has a dirty sock fetish…but he never chews them, he just carries them around all over the house.

I have many, many friends…they are all very dear to me.

Many of them I have known more than half my life.

Big Chewy Sweet Tarts are my favorite candy.

I really don’t like country music, but certain songs catch my heart every now and then.

I do not like to be the center of attention…I am a shy person and I tend to be a wallflower…but, I’m getting better about that!

Public speaking, even in a small group, makes my stomach turn and I’d do just about anything to avoid it.

I like to drive fast and have a “lead foot.”

I enjoy driving with the windows down and the music loud...still.

I'm very spontaneous. My husband is not.

I'm an optimist...he's a realist.

I love road trips...so does he.

I LOVE traveling of any kind, anywhere. I’ve visited many states, but have only been out of the country once (not counting Mexico, which I've been to a few times both through Texas and California borders). I hope to change that soon!

My husband and son also enjoy traveling…I’m hoping our daughter will be the same…I have a feeling she will be!

I enjoy writing.

I hate math.

My son is the exact opposite.

I’m an Aries…it’s a fitting description of me! Although, I don’t really believe in astrology, I can never pass up reading my horoscope.

I am a morning person.

I am also a night owl...due to insomnia.

I don't like selfish people.

I do like selfless people.

I have a great appreciation and love of family, near and far.

I believe we should take care of our elders when they are unable to take care of themselves.

I do not respect people who do not help and respect their elders. What will you do when you are old and there is no one to care for you? There's something to be said about karma!

I think that Margaret Mead has some of the most awesome quotes. Look 'em up. I can't pick a favorite...there are too many good ones.

Another quote that I like and believe to be very true is: "A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have." - Thomas Jefferson

I’m okay with regular rocking chairs, but glider-rockers make me sick to my stomach.

I have suffered a lot of heartache and disappointment in my life, but I am an optimist and I try not to dwell on the negative, but strive to stay positive.

After reflecting on my life, I think I'm lucky to be alive, don't you?!?!?!

I have worked very hard for the life I have now and I enjoy every simple joy that comes my way...I know I'm blessed and I'm incredibly thankful for everything, good and not so good.

I may add more useless information to (or modify) this list in the future…

I’d love to read a list like this of things about you!